shapeshifter

Ruby POV

-Dad ! I don't want to go to that damn teen summer camp. I'm old enough, it's been a while.

-Ruby, I already told you about it. This summer, work is going to keep me from staying at home, I'm going to have a bunch of meetings and conventions. Besides, I'm worried about leaving you here all alone.

-Dad, I'm seventeen and I know very well how to keep myself.

-Maybe, but towards the end of your final exams, your principal told me that you had been acting strange. I was strongly advised to register for this camp. And I even think that a girl who was in a few of your classes vaguely spoke to me about it and she told me that it would be good for you. I'm worried about you and I think it would be a good idea to take you there. Ruby, I don't like to push it, I'd really like you to go. And then you will make new friends...

I rolled my eyes and sighed.

-But I don't need new friends! I exclaimed.

How was it that he trusted a stranger? And why would he listen to a stranger who told him to send me to teen camp?

-Ruby Anderson, I ask you to calm down and listen to me!

I didn't like arguing with my dad, but I really didn't want to go to day camp all summer.

-Ruby please... he began calmly. Uh, Ruby? What's wrong with your eyes? he asked me, suddenly worried.

-What my eyes? I said with a frown, my eyes stinging slightly.

I walked into the bathroom to see what was wrong with my eyes and I saw them glowing a pinkish, golden color, but it quickly disappeared. I widened my eyes for a moment, frozen in front of the mirror. It was weird. I ignored this by shaking my head and then returned to my father.

-My eyes have nothing. You're probably hallucinating, I told him innocently.

My father seemed a little lost.

-Anyway, it doesn't matter. What I'm asking you to do is just spend the summer there, not spend a whole school year there.

-No means no, okay?

He looked at me in silence with a hard look. He really wanted me to go. What did I have to lose anyway...?

-Only this summer, I whispered.

He had a victorious smile on his face. Still, had he really trusted a stranger?

-Okay then, pack your bags, you're leaving tomorrow, he said to me.

-Pardon ? Tomorrow ? Already ? And where is it actually? I exclaimed.

It was like he had already signed me up for this camp.

-Two hours from here, in a place far from the city, a bit like the countryside, but the forest is rather big. Very tall.

-Okay, then we'll see you tomorrow morning. Good night, I said to him.

I went up to my room after hugging him. I took out my suitcases and filled them with summer clothes and girl's necessities.

I put on my pajamas and brushed my hair in front of my mirror. What had happened earlier started again. My eyes began to glow for a few moments, but I blinked and then my abnormally colored irises returned to their original color.

“Weird,” I muttered.

I went to bed and fell asleep with the sole thought that I was going to spend a boring summer at this famous camp. Make friends... Like I need a ton...

Under my blankets, I felt the warmth of the sun's rays passing through me.

-Wake up Ruby, if you don't want to be late, said my father when he opened the door to my room.

-mmhmhm...

-Do you want to be the last to arrive, so everyone will look at you?

I got up quickly and then got dressed. I came to go down, but I turned around when I realized that I had forgotten my suitcases. I finally went back down to have lunch.

When everything was done, I packed my bags and left the house with my father. Once in the car, I listed the things I had in my suitcases to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything.

-What is the camp called? I asked him.

-Forest Dawn.

The forest of dawn? I was very curious to know what I was going to do there...

I put on my headphones and then watched the landscape pass before my eyes.

The houses gradually disappeared to make way for greenery and trees. My music passed as time flew by.

The journey was most boring. I didn't know what to talk about. We had barely talked. An hour passed, then a second. It was really long. I watched the green landscape unfold before my eyes. Then, a sign appeared in the distance. It said: Welcome to Forest Dawn.

Awesome.